Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Journeys On Foot

I've gotten in a great little bit of training lately. I've finally worked my way back up to my "normal" training load after taking most of January off. The best thing about being back into shape is that I can just go out and run for most of a day and not get too worn down. Once you get to this point it's amazing the places you can get to simply traveling on your own two feet. For me the most satisfying runs are the ones that have a natural feel to them of getting from one place to another. That is to say the runs that end of feeling like I've gone on a journey or an exploration and running just happens to be my method of transportation.

This past Sunday I did a long run that ended up feeling very much like this. I started from my cabin and ran down to the bus stop in Nederland to meet up with Scott, Dakota, and Joe who had ridden the bus up from Boulder. From there we just ran Eastward and down, linking together a bunch of different trails and gravel roads, until eventually, 30+ miles later, we ended up in Boulder and ran to Scott's house. Jenny was sweet enough to go get us all burritos that we ate while I waited for a bus back to Nederland. When it was all said and done it almost ended up feeling like I had just run from my house to Scott's house to eat a burrito and visit with friends.

Then to cap off a great day of running, when I got back to Nederland on the bus I got to run the mile or two back to my house. I was kind of dreading this part of the journey, but it ended up being perhaps the most enjoyable part of the entire run. It was snowing lightly and there was no traffic on the roads this late on a Sunday evening. I was really tired, but I didn't feel this way at all. I just ran down the edge of the dark, quiet, snowy road and felt like I could run down that road forever. This run from town up to my house was about 15 minutes, but at the time it didn't feel like much more than a few seconds. It was really nice to get home, but at the time I really wished that this road kept going and that I lived several miles away.

When it was all over it was one awesome day of foot travel. Here's a few photos taken by Joe:

15 comments:

Good to see you back in tip top running shape! Its funny i was just trying to explain this feeling of running up a mountain and almost feeling like you're in a different world from where you started.... WOW, when i started i was in a parking lot with lots of scrambling tourists, fast forward 2 hours I'm at the summit of this amazing mountain in shin deep snow, and absolute solitude! Regardless of why people run its an amazing feeling getting your body in the kind of shape that allows you do that.

Great post Geoff. As I am getting ready for my first ultra I constantly come to your page for inspiration. I first got into ultra running due to the little blurb runnersworld did about you after WS 10. Thanks for the inspiration. My wife called me gay last night cuz I was looking at pics of ultra runners to use as inspiration for my next run.

I'm assuming you hit walker to eldo to chautauqua, but what trails do you take to get to walker... if my initial assumption is right?

I love doing the one way south to north; north east of eldo trails, eldo, walker loop, flagstaff rd, w.ridge of green, ranger, flagstaff mtn, flagstaff trail, panorama trail to eben g fine. 23-30ish depending on details.

Nice write up Geoff. The four of you came past me on Mesa Trail on Sunday. I heard voices coming up behind me and I had a feeling it would be you guys. When you all went by, I was 13 miles into a 16 mile run and it helped motivate me to pick up my pace, since I was pretty well cooked already! Had a couple jokes with Scott, since he was at the end of your pace line.

It was cool & inspiring to see some of the top ultrarunners in the world cruising along. I met you & Scott a couple of weeks ago on top of Green Mtn, on that very windy day. Hope to keep seeing you guys out there, so it keeps me motivated to train hard. I'm attempting my first Ultra at the end of April and at the grand age of 45.Cheers-

Great to hear from your runnings again.Sounds really beautiful that journey. One of those days you appreciate the power and privilege of running.Keep on the same way and good luck for your coming races.